Grade: C+
If C’s get degrees in college, does it work the same way for award shows?
In the same way that there was nothing special about my history homework last week, there was nothing special about the 2015 Emmys.
Though there were times when I chuckled or smirked at the winners, the show was just bland.
First, let’s take a moment to break down Andy Samberg’s underwhelming performance as the evening’s host. The opening song had me laughing — that Les Mis bit with Will Forte had me, my sister and my best friend cackling — and the monologue wasn’t bad, but the rest of the show fell flat.
At one point, Samberg made a joke about spoilers and characters dying that bombed so hard my best friend shook her head and asked, “Was that supposed to be funny?”
Unfortunately, that’s how most of Samberg’s material hit me that evening. I know the Emmys isn’t exactly the most exciting award show to host, but you’ve got to give the audience something to keep them awake.
Underwhelming, but unsurprising.
Once the show got started, HBO dominated the evening, with shows like “Veep,” “Olive Kitteridge” and “Game of Thrones” gobbling up nearly every award they were nominated for. Basically, what I took away from the show is that I really, really need someone to give me their HBO GO password.
Any takers?
All kidding aside, they’re doing something right at HBO, but I don’t think the results surprised anyone. The results were — dare I say — predictable?
Not all was terrible, however. Even though Amy Poehler and “Parks and Recreation” were snubbed and Poehler will never be recognized for her work as Leslie Knope, Jon Hamm took home a much-deserved trophy toward the end of the night, his first and only for his portrayal as Don Draper in AMC’s “Mad Men.”
Still, nothing too surprising here.
I know this is something we focus on during every award show, but can we talk about diversity for a second?
Samberg spoke in his opening monologue about the diversity represented in this year’s class of nominees, and though the night’s results weren’t groundbreaking, women like Uzo Aduba, Regina King and Viola Davis took the stage and made us feel things with their speeches.
Davis’ powerful speech about diversity as she hoisted the trophy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series was a poignant moment in the evening.
“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” Davis said.
She’s the first black woman to win in this category.
It’s 2015.
We talk about diversity every year at award shows. We need to continue having this conversation. Diversity for the sake of diversity is not the same thing as actual diversity.
The conversation continues because it still took an entire hour to get to the first award given to a person of color — when King took home the trophy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for “American Crime.” It was another hour to get to the second when Reg E. Cathey won for his performance as Freddy in “House of Cards.” His award was given before the ceremony, but his consolation was that he got to present another award.
It wasn’t the worst way to spend three hours on a Sunday evening, but if you were looking for substantial content, a host that would entertain you and unpredictable results, you were better off just going to my history lecture.
